Bradys Hope Battle Is Won, But Say War Is Far From Over

November 20, 1993|By Linda M. Harrington Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON — Jim and Sarah Brady sat in an office like generals on the eve of victory and talked about their long struggle for gun control and their transformations from Republican insiders to lobbyists.

For almost seven years, the Bradys have led a charge in the battle for gun control, and now Congress seems to be on the brink of passing the so-called Brady bill, named for Jim, the former White House press secretary who survived a gunshot wound to the head during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

The measure, which the House approved Nov. 10 and sent to the Senate, calls for a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns while a background check of the buyer is conducted.

Since the Brady bill was first introduced in Congress in 1987, the Bradys have watched it go through the congressional meat grinder - being filibustered, amended, attached to and removed from other legislation.

''In the beginning it was difficult because you could see with many (conservatives) their conscience was in one direction and their political future was in another,'' Sarah Brady said.

''The very first time we lost it . . . I didn't think it would bother me so much. It did.''

FBI figures show that 14 children a day are killed by firearms. And since the Bradys joined the ranks of gun-control advocates, more than 150,000 people have been killed with handguns in the United States, according to the Washington-based lobbying group Handgun Control Inc., which Sarah Brady heads.

By comparison, almost 300,000 U.S. military personnel were killed in battle during World War II, from 1941 to 1945.

The last major piece of gun-control legislation to be enacted by Congress was the Gun Control Act of 1968. Approved after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the law bans mail-order gun sales and requires dealers to keep sales records.

While the Bradys are quick to admit that the Brady bill is not a panacea, they are convinced that it will save lives and is the cornerstone to tougher legislation at the local, state and federal levels.

At a White House meeting with the Bradys recently, President Clinton said, ''The Brady bill is the first step, and we are going to pass it this year, I believe, because the American people finally have heard the long call of Jim and Sarah Brady.''

The Bradys' tragedy was played out before the nation on TV newscasts in the hours and days after John Hinckley Jr. aimed his $29 pistol, illegally bought at a Dallas pawn shop, at Reagan as the president and his entourage left a Washington hotel on March 30, 1981. Hinckley fired at least four times.

Reagan was wounded, as were a Washington police officer and a Secret Service agent providing security. Brady was hit with a bullet that likely would have killed the president.

Now, his left arm is paralyzed, and he has little use of his left leg, making him generally rely on a wheelchair.

Brady, 53, who is vice chairman of both the National Organization on Disability and the National Head Injury Foundation, said the couple's anti-gun mission has been frustrating. It also has been strenuous.

The Bradys have campaigned for the legislation in at least 40 states and attended dozens of political events and dinners. They have made more than 450 public appearances, passionately testified at congressional hearings, implored scores of lawmakers, swept through miles of Capitol corridors.

Despite the toll their lengthy mission has taken on their family, both said they would do it again.

Because they are politically savvy, the Bradys might have guessed how long it would take to pass gun-control legislation.

If the Brady bill finally makes it to the president's desk, the couple's war against guns will be far from over. Both said they will continue to push for gun-control legislation at the federal, state and local levels.

And if the bill doesn't win approval this year?

''There's going to be real hell to pay,'' Sarah Brady said.

After his wife left the room, Jim Brady leaned over a bit and, in a near-whisper, said: ''We've got to win. We're going to win. We've got to win.''